The inventive concept relates generally to electronic memory technologies. More particularly, certain embodiments of the inventive concept relate to storage devices comprising nonvolatile memory and related programming methods using continuous programming.
Semiconductor memory devices can be roughly divided into two categories according to whether they retain stored data when disconnected from power. These categories include volatile memory devices, which lose stored data when disconnected from power, and nonvolatile memory devices, which retain stored data when disconnected from power. Examples of volatile memory devices include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static random access memory (SRAM). Examples of nonvolatile memory devices include electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), and flash memory.
In recent years, there has been a continuing increase in the demand for nonvolatile memory devices. Accordingly, in an effort to address this demand, researchers are engaged in continual efforts to improve various aspects of nonvolatile memory devices, such as their performance, storage capacity, and reliability.